Flashlight



R. PREW FLASH LIGHT Jan. 13. 1925.

iled May 13, 1924 Prew Inve mo l? Raymond UNITED srATss* 'PTENT OFFICE.

hamom) mmw, or BosToN, MASSACEUSETTS.

FLASHLIGHT..

Application filed lay 13, 1924. Serial No. 7 12343.

To all whom it may' coflce r' I Be it known that 1-,- RAYMOND PREW, a

citizen of the United States; and 'e'sident' that they can be readilyremoved thereby to facilitate cleaning, repair or any desired ad-'justment In fiashlights which' are how common use the circuit-closingelements and the strips forming the circuit are permanently secured tothe casing or shell and are located inside of the latter, where they arenot accessible. During the use of the flashlight it frequently happensthat because of some improper adjustment the Contacts of thecircuit-closing element do not close' :pro erly and when this conditionarises the as ilight is,' of course; useless. Where theseso elementsarepernnently secured'to thecasing or' shell-on the* interior thereof its extremely difficult if not impossible, for the ordinary person toreniedyf any such 'inaladjustm'ent. So also if an one'of the parts 3 ofthe circuit-closing device becomes broken or damaged it is not possiblewherethe parts are permanently Secured to the' shell to rep move thedamaged part '01' replace it byanother.

As stated above it is one of the objects of my invention to provide aflashlight in' which the parts .of the ci'cuit-closing.'de-' vice areremovably sustained by the casing so tlat'in case of any improperadjustment or of any defect they'may be removedand readjnsted orrepaired and'then reinserted p in the ca sing. Fnrthermore with myinvena tion f any part becomes broken it lS pos-.

sible to replace it readily'by anew part;

invention comprises a flashlighthaving the novel features hereinafterdescribed and set forth in the claims. i

` Figs. 8 is a In the drawings-wherein I have illustrated a selectedembodiment of my invention, Fig. 1 is alongitudinal sectional viewthrough a flashlight enbodyng my invention;

Fig. 2 is a' section on the line 2-2,` Fig. l;

perspective view of the contact strip; 4

Figui is a perspective view of the'anchoring member; i

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the circuit strlizp;

ig. 6 is a perspective tioning plate; r. "*1*Tig.* 7 is a perspectiveview of the housing carrying the push button' I I Fig. 8 is a section onthe line 8 -8, Fig. 9; Fig. 9 is anunder side view of Fig. 8. In thedrawi S 1' indicates the shell or casing 'of the fii s light which .isreferably made of fibre 'or some' other insu ating material and whichhas rigid therewith at one end the hood 2 in which the usual reflector 3is received, the latter having the socket porview of the position 4 toreceive the bulb 5 all as usual inflashlights. At the opposite end theshell l is provided with the metal ferrule. 6 to which the cap 7 isscrewthreaded, the latter having the usual spring 8 Secured theretowhich engages the battery 9 and yieldingly holds the terminal 10 thereofagainst the' i terminal 11 of the bulb 5.

The parts thus far described are or may form no part of my presentinvention.

My improved c1rcu1t-closng device con carried by the casing and isSituated within the latter and one end 13 of which is adapted to engagethe reflector,--a housing member 14:

which also is detachably Secured tothe shell and which carries a contactmember 15 adapted to 'make contact with the contact strip 12 and acircuit strip 16 electrically 35 c be all as usual in flashlights ofthis type and V prises a contact strip 12 which is detachably vconnecting the housing 14 with the cap .7,

which strip-is also detachably Secured to the casing. 4 i The contactstrip 12 is detachably retained 'in place' by means of an anchoringmemberi i 17.* This anchoring member is permanently 50 i With these andother-ob1ects in'view my Secured to the shell by means of a rivet 18 andis formed with the two wings or lips 19 beneath which the end 20 of thecontact strip' 12 may be inserted. This anchoring memi 22 formed in theside of the ber is also shown as having the flange portion 21 whichprojects through an aperture casing 1.

The anchoring member is Secured to the outside of the casing while thecontact strip 12 is on the inside of the casing and, therefore, Ipropose to so form said strip that the end which engages the lips 19will be oti'set by an amount equal to the thickness of the wall of thecasing. The opening 22 in the casing is large enough to permit thecontactstrip 12 to be placed in position by introducing the stripthrough the front end of the casing and then moving the end 20 of' thestrip through the opening 22 and into alignment with the space 23between' the lips 19 and the body of after which said end 20 may beentered beneath t-he lips by a longitudinal movement of the .strip 12.are turned upwardly or flared slightly so as to facilitate the placingof the strip 12 in position. f

The housing 14 which carries the movable part 15 is retained' in placepartly by an anchoring plate 25 and partly by the 'circuit strip 16.permanently secured to the shell by'means of suitable rivets 26 and ithas a central opening 27 to receive the anchoring member 17, saidopening being partially surrounded by an upright curb 28. This anchoringplate is also provided with a slot 29. a

The housing 14 is formed at one end with a leg 30 which extends throughthe slot 29 and with a laterally-extending'toe portion 31 that underliesthe anchoring plate 25. At theother end the housing is provided` with aleg portion 32' adapted to pass through the opening 27 of the anchoringplate and through an opening 36 formed in v the ,wall of the casng,saidleg having a 'orwardly-extending flange or toe portion 33 and alsohaving an opening 34 therethrough. The contact strip 16 lies on theinside of the shell 1 and one end thereof passes through the opening 34while the other end I thereof embraces the edge of the shell 'at therear end as shown at 35. The contact strip 12 is 'provided with acontact'finger37 with which the movable contact 15 is adapted to engage,the latter having a proi jection or pushbutton '38 which 'extendsthrough an opening in the housing. The contact strip '16 is the ferrule6 and, therebutton 38 is depressed fore, when the 'pus 15 is broughtinto enthe movable contact gagement' with the contact finger 37 therebyclosng the circuit to the lamp.

I have referred above to the fact that the contact strip 12 wasremovably Secured to the casing. ,This is also true of'the housing 14and the circuit strip 16to be removed and replaced the anchoring'member. 17, i

The ends 24 of the lips fi The anchoring. plate25 is' 'end of thecircuit strip 16 is in electrical contact with circuit strip 16.- Topermit the I have formed the shell ,1 with an opening 39 at its endthrough which the portion 35 of the circuit strip 16 may be inserted or'i circuit strip may thus beenwithdrawn then the left hand end i of thehousing 14 is released and the latter may be swung into the therebypermitting from the slot 29.

The contact strip 12 rst removing ing the strip forwardly suificientlyto release the end 20 from theanchoring member 17.

To assemble the the toe 31 to be removed may be removed` by dotted lineposition the refiector 3, and then pullu parts it is simply necessary tofirst reinsert the contact strip 12 in 'the anchoring member as abovedescribed,

place the toe 31 of thehousing into;

then to the slot 29 as shown by 'the dotted line ig. l and then to swingthe housing into, its operative position tlereby carrying the foot 32through the opening in the anchoring plate' and through the opening 36in the. shell, after which the circuit strip 16 may be placed in theshell with the-end 40 thereof inserted through the opening 34. The end35 of the circuit strip is then introduced through the slot or opening39 of the. shell and said end is moved latera'lly in its operativeposition. If desired, the ferrule 6 may have a dent or protuberancecarried into operative position, said dent or past which the moved as itis' protuberance'serving to frictionallyretain the circuit strip inplace. With this arrangement the housing is locked in' place by thecrcuit strip. r

I 'propose to theywill normally 'incline upwardly slightly and with thisConstruction they will have a make both toes 31 33 so that V firmhearing on the interior 'of .the anchoring plate and against the circuitstrip which Will hold the housing firmly in position and prevent anylooseness of the .parts.

I also propose to make the end 40 of the circuit'strip somewhat pointedand with the shoulders 41 which engage the foot 32 When the contactstrip is in place. With this construction the edges 42 will have avwedge action against the edge of the foot 33 as the strip is insertedwhich 'will serve to clamp the housing firmly against the anchorng plate25. i i A It will thus be observed that with ths Construction all theparts of the circuitclosing devices are removably Secured to the shelland can be easily removed or replaced.

user/46 If, therefore any of the parts need any adjstment or any repairsuch parts can be readily removed from the casing and after the desh-ed'adjustment or repairs are made the can be as readily replaced inposition.

l hile I have illustrated herein a selected embodiment of my invention Ido notwish to be limited to the constructional features shown.

I claim:

1. In a flashlight, the combination with a shell having a cap removablySecured ther'eto at one end and a bulb-supporting reflector at the'other end, of a contact strip removably supported by the shell andhaving one end engaging the reflector, a movable contact member alsoremovably carried bythe shell and adapted to engage the contact strip toclose the circuit, said contact member being electrically connected withthe cap.

2. In a fiashlight, the combination with a shell having a cap at one endand a reflector at the other, of an anchoring member Secured to theshell, a contact strip removably supported by the anchoring member andhaving one end engaging said reflector, and a movable contact memberalso removably carried by the shell and adapted to engage the contactstrip.

3. In a flashlight, the combination with a shell having a reflector atone end, of, a contact strip removably carried by the shell, ande'ngaging said reflector, a housing removably carried by the Shell, anda movable contact member carried by the housing and adapted to engagethe contactstrip.

4. In a flashlight, the combination with a shell having a removable capat one end and a reflector at the other, of a' contact strip removablycarried by the shell and engagng said reflector, a housing alsoremovably carried by the shell, a movable cantact member carried bythehousing and adapted to engage the contact strip, and a circuit stripelectrically connecting the housing with the cap.

5. In a flashlight, the combination with a shell having a'removable capat one end and a reflector at the other, of a contact strip removablycarried b the shell and engaging said reflector, a ousing also removably'carried bythe shell, a movable contact member carried by the housingand adapted to engage the contact strip, and

adapted to engage the contact strip, and a circuit strip electricallyconnecting the housing with the ca and looking the housing in position,said circuit strip beng re-, movable from the sh ll.

7. In a flashlight, the combination with a shell having a cap removablySecured thereto at one end and a reflectorat thei. i

ly Secured to the shel also Secured to the shell, a contact stripremovably carried by the anchoring member and adapted to engage thereflector, a housing detachably carried by the anchoring plate,'and amovable contact carried by the housing and adapted .to eng'age thecontact stri 8. In a a shell having a reflector at one end adapted tosupport a bulb, an 'anchoring plate secured to the shell, a contactstrip removably Secured to the shell and engagng said reflector, ahousing removably Secured to the anchoring plate, and a movable contactmember carried by the housing and adapted to engage the' contact strip.

9. In a flashlight, the combination with a shell having a cap removablySecured to one end andia reflector to the other, of a contact stripremovably Secured to the shell and engagingsaid reflector, an anchoringplate permanently Secured thereto and provided with `'an opening, ahousing detachably connected to the anchoring plate and having a legextending through said opening and through an opening in the shell, amovable contact carried by the housing and adapted to en age the contactstrip, and a circuit strip aving interlocking engagement with said legof the housin and connecting the latter electrically wit the removablecap.

other end, an anchoring ashlight, the combination with' memberpermanente" an anchoring plate'75 In testimony whereof, I have signed my

